Women in St. Augustine: the early U.S. Period 1821- present Part 2 by Valerie Etienne-Leveille

The Castillo de San Marcos was constructed in 1672 by the Spanish to maintain a military outpost and keep rival powers from threatening Spanish commerce (1). The fort is made of coquina stone which was transported from nearby Anastasia Island. With the colonization of the Americas, Native Americans were pushed further away from their lands. With the increase of western expansion in the mid-1800s, the growing tension between the Native Americans and White settlers began to surge (2).

Fort Marion

Photo courtesy of Castillo de San Marcos (3)

Peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes camped on Big Sandy Creek located in Southeastern Colorado. On November 29, 1864, the village was attacked by units of the Colorado (U.S.) Volunteer Cavalry (3). The village had been assured protection by the Army and hoisted the U.S. flag and the white flag of truce. About 230 people, mostly women and children, were killed and mutilated. This event is known as the Sand Creek Massacre.

Mo-chi (Buffalo Calf Woman), Pe-ah-in and Ah-kes – 1800s

After the Sand Creek Massacre, Cheyenne and Arapaho survivors scattered. Mo-chi also known as Buffalo Calf Woman was a 23-year-old southern Cheyenne woman who survived the Sand Creek Massacre (4). She lost her husband and her father through the carnage. Since the soldiers who were now in control of the village were not taking any prisoners, Mo-chi and the other Sand Creek survivors had to find temporary hiding places (5). This event led Mo-chi to become a warrior. She married Medicine Water and fought with him in battles and raids for the next eleven years. At the end of the Southern Plains Indian Wars in 1875, seventy-four Native-Americans who were accused of being ringleaders and murderers were imprisoned. They were shackled and loaded onto trains without trial from Fort Sill, Oklahoma to St. Augustine, Florida. The prisoners arrived at San Castillo de San Marcos which was renamed by the U.S. as Fort Marion. They were prisoners of the Indian wars, so they had been taken from different tribes. Some of the prisoners knew one another but many were brought from other places to make the journey to Fort Marion in St. Augustine (6). The prisoners were all male except for three females.

Native-American prisoners in the courtyard of Fort Marion (3).

Photo courtesy Castillo de San Marcos

Two of the female prisoners were Pe-ah-in and her nine-year-old daughter, Ah- kes. Pe-ah-in was the wife of Black Horse, a warrior. Pe-ah-in and her daughter, Ah-kes, refused to leave Black Horse’s side when the soldiers imprisoned him in Fort Sill, so they traveled with him under extremely harsh conditions to Fort Marion.

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Prisoners at Fort Marion including Black Horse, Pe-ah-in, and Ah-kes (front row, middle three)

Photographic Study Collection, Dickinson Research Center, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum (6).

The third female prisoner at Fort Marion was Mo-chi, one of the Sand Creek Massacre survivor. Mo-chi was imprisoned at Fort Marion with her husband Medicine Water. The prisoners represented the Kiowa, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, and Caddo people. Upon their arrival at Fort Marion in May 1875, the prisoners were placed under the charge of Captain Richard Pratt (3). Captain Pratt decided to remove the shackles from the Native- Americans and provided them with a western education. They learned to speak and write in English while also receiving a Christian education (2)(7). The teachers were mostly local women who included Sarah Mather, Anna Pratt, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and others (2)(4).

Medicine Water and Mo-chi (Buffalo Calf Woman) in Fort Marion (3).

Photo courtesy Jacksonville Historical Society

Ah-kes, daughter of Pe-ah-in, used her newly acquired English language skills to write a letter to the President asking for the freedom of the prisoners (4). Mo-chi refused to learn the western culture and grieved the loss of her family and her former way of life. After three years of incarceration, the Native-American prisoners were released to the care of the Indian Bureau (2).

The Native-American prisoners were forced to assimilate which prompted them to give up their cultural identity to accept a new way of life. This singular goal of assimilation had significant impact on the Native-American communities for generations to come.

References

1. National Park Service. (2020, March 9.). Basic Visit Information. https://www.nps.gov/casa/faqs.htm

2. National Park Service. (2020, May 21.). Plain Indians. https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/historyculture/plains-indians.htm

3. National Park Service. (2020, May 21.). The Sand Creek Massacre. https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/historyculture/the-sand-creek- massacre.htm

4. National Park Service. (n.d.). Women’s History in St. https://www.nps.gov/foma/learn/historyculture/women.htm

5. Wommack, L., & Sipes Jr., J. (2008, April). Mo-chi: First Female Cheyenne Warrior. HistoryNet. https://www.historynet.com/mo- chi-first-female-cheyenne-warrior.htm

6. Glancy, D. (2019). Fort Marion Prisoners and the Trauma of Native Education. University of Nebraska Press.

7. Truskey, C. (2017, December 22). Between Two Worlds: Indian Imprisonment at Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. National Trust for Historic Preservation. https://savingplaces.org/stories/between-two-worlds-indian-imprisonment-at-castillo-de- san-marcos-national-monument#.YFd55a9KjIV

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